Has Senior Adventures

Month: October 2015

We are waiting for parts so Sao did not go into the shop today. After lunch, we went on another exploration. This is something that I wanted to see for a long time. Not because it is anything particularly spectacular to see, I was just curious.

When you drive on Interstate 75 near Ocala, Florida, you go under an overpass with trees on it. I thought it might be part of the corridor system for wildlife movement. Florida has a number of corridors, greenways, and preserves. Well you just don’t see that many highway overpasses with trees growing on them. We looked it up and it is part of the Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway, a 110-mile long band of green across the middle of Florida from Palatka, near the east coast, to the Gulf of Mexico. It is about a mile wide in most places. The land is part of an unfinished barge canal to link the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic ocean proposed by King Phillip II of Spain in 1567. Yes, 1567. Andy found the trail head that would take us to the overpass, called the Land Bridge. And we were off on an adventure.

We had not even reached the trail head from the parking lot when we were awed by a Live Oak tree. Just LOOK at those branches!

I asked my scale model Andy to stay where he was while I walked closer to the tree to take a picture of him by the three long branches. They are amazing.

We headed on into the forest and saw more Live Oak trees. It was a surreal environment.

Andy suddenly veered off the trail.

I soon realized that he had found a good place to sit down and re-tie his shoes.

The next odd sight we came to was a tree on the ground. It looked like a giant wooden octopus ready to grab us.

After passing under some branches and getting to the other side, we realized that a huge tree had been split in half. The half on the right was dead.

The half on the left, that we had just passed under, was alive and well and had grown a little forest. What were once branches are now upright trees.

The effect of those huge trees hanging over the trail was beautiful.

We came to an area that was clear of underbrush. Andy figured it was low lying land and is wet some of the time.

Here is something else I have never seen before. Two separate trails were running alongside each other. There are three trails leaving the parking area and going to the land bridge. One is for hikers, one for bicycles, and one for horses. The hiking trail goes the shortest distance, pretty much straight, well a very curvy straight. The other two trails meander back and forth and cross the hiking trail four or five times. There is also a service road. At this point, the trails were along some private property.

Another strange place in the woods was deep in pine straw. I love pine straw, but this area was just a bit creepy.

The trail is only 1.1 miles long from the parking lot to the land bridge. We could hear the traffic on I-75 well before we got to it. I was surprised to see stone walls leading to it. They are the planters for the trees and shrubs. This is the bridge, a one-lane dirt road.

I widens into a courtyard at the center of the interstate and there are overlooks. They must be for people, not the animals.

I-75 was busy as usual.

I noticed two cameras mounted on a post at the beginning of the land bridge and bent over to take a picture of them.

When I stood up and turned around, Andy was posed with his walking stick like a golf club aimed at my behind. He figured that when the wildlife people see a picture of me bent over taking a picture of the camera, they will get a good laugh. That man has a strange sense of humor.

There was a bush loaded with Beauty Berries near the land bridge too. I was just reading recently that although they are edible, the birds and other animals don’t like them. They don’t eat them unless there is nothing else available.

This was a photo op. The horse trail was crossing our trail right in front of two big trees.

This was a group of five or six trees splayed out over the trail. We had to climb over them at the base.

That was a great walk.

Someone had posted a link to a web site showing how to make rose shaped apple treats made with a can of crescent rolls. I bought the rolls and an apple and decided to make them tonight. That’s when I realized that I don’t have any cupcake tins. I thought I did, but can’t find them. They are probably under the futon couch under other stuff. So, I decided to roll them up.

I didn’t follow a recipe; I just put in slices of apple, brown sugar, butter, cinnamon, nutmeg, and toasted pecans. They were super easy and a right tasty. Here they are when I took them out of the oven.

Here is one on a plate because that’s the way those food blogs and magazines show their food. I just didn’t have a fancy plate or utensil or table cloth for drama.

Andy called me outside to witness the sunrise this morning, but by the time I put on some clothes and shoes, I missed the best of it. I saw it out the window, but did not get the picture. Here is what I did get. The foreground is about as good as it gets in an RV parking lot.

We have been sitting in one place long enough for me to remember what day of the week it is. (That’s tough when you are retired!) I decided that we should drive up to Ocala for the Friends meeting. They are not an official meeting, but a small group that worships in the home of Larry and Ellie. We went there a few years ago and enjoyed the fellowship.

We got to the house about 15 minutes before eleven. There were no other cars in the driveway, but we have learned in the past that many Quakers get there a minute or two late. I was smitten with the flowers as soon as I got out of the car. They are seven or ten feet tall! The orange and yellow was electric in the morning sun and dappled shade! I started taking pictures of the blossoms.

Perhaps I should have called ahead. Sometimes home worship groups can vary their time and place of meeting. We rang the bell and Larry answered the door. They had children, grandchildren, and a great grandson visiting. Everyone else had gone to the park. Uh oh. He insisted that we come in and wait while he went to the park to get them so I went back outside to take more pictures of the flowers.

The more pictures I took, the more excited I became. “Each one has its own personality!” Andy was not so moved. “Look at the sun through this one!” I didn’t even elicit a grunt. Andy thought we should leave so as not to inconvenience the family. He finally convinced me just when the family returned. Ellie told us that on the fourth first day, other members of the group to go the Gainesville meeting.

It did turn into a meeting, but not a silent worship we Quakers are accustomed to. We sat around the table with three generations of Claytons and talked. At noon, Ellie and her daughter-in-law visiting from Texas got up and made lunch. Then we sat for another hour telling stories and simply chatting. At first we felt a bit awkward, but they continually told us how happy they were that we came and what a pleasure it was to see us. By the time we left, we really believed it.

Larry mentioned that he is 89 and a Korean War vet. He and Andy talked about being in the military.

Ellie also works diligently on her blog about William Blake. She showed me her library of books by and about him. I confess ignorance here, so I looked him up when I got home.William Blake (1757 to 1827) was an English poet, artist, and engraver. I love Wikipedia! I did not find out how Ellie came to study him. Her blog is William Blake: Religion and Psychology.

As I said, it was not a Quaker meeting, but was a delightful visit.

And, oh the cosmos! That was my spiritual awakening this morning. These were so tall that I wasn’t sure they were cosmos. The ones I grew in my garden were only two or tree feet high, and pink. I had to coin a new word for the experience: photogasm. I couldn’t find it in Merriam Webster, so it is my word. Then I decided the word should be florigasm and coined that one too. You don’t need to credit me if you decide to use either of them in a sentence.

How many flower pictures can you stand to look at in one sitting?

Here is the underside of a cosmos. Who knew?

This butterfly on a cosmos might be my favorite picture.

Bee on a cosmos is my best bee-and-flower shot yet.

The cosmos in the shade were a deeper orange.

This cosmos was so high in the sky I had to use a lot of zoom to take its portrait.

I probably could have stayed there for hours and taken a picture of each bloom.

Yes, we are still here in the repair shop. Most of our list has been accomplished, but we are waiting on a cable to connect the rear-view camera to the monitor on the dash. Mechanic Kevin predicts that it will be in on Tuesday. That means he’ll install it on Wednesday. And, that means we would leave on Thursday. We’ll see.

We have been catching up on paperwork and housework. Yesterday, after lunch, we went to see A Walk in the Woods. I enjoyed it and Andy must have too; he stayed awake through the whole thing. It has been several years since I read the book, but I think the movie was faithful to it.

It was nice to be able to cook and eat at home, since Sao was not in the shop today. Andy requested spaghetti. After lunch, we drove to Lake Okahumpka Park, just a mile or three down the highway from Alliance Coach. We like to take our walk there when we are in Wildwood.

We walked the red trail three times to give us 3.87 miles, actually over four miles when you count our side trips. It is a level, paved trail all around the small county park.

There are two gazebos along the trail for taking a rest, but we did not use them.

I read on the web that okahumpka is an English-ization for an Indian phrase meaning deep water. It is difficult to get much of a view of the lake from the park. This is all we could see of it, from the boat ramp. We agreed that, next year, we will rent a canoe and explore the lake.

He is another picture showing the pier alongside the boat ramp.

There are a lot of Live Oaks with Spanish moss, but none of them are the full, wide ones we see out in the open pastures.

This is the trail along the lake shore.

I wonder how many signs you really need on a walking trail in a small county park. I don’t know what the stop sign is for; this spot is not at a road. Of course the blue and red ones direct you on the trail you want. The green arrow directs you to the next World Gym stop. We could not figure out the green signs along the trail with compass bearings.

This is one of the World Gym stops. I did not try any of them. We decided that walking is enough for old people.

These Spanish moss beards were swaying in the breeze and sunshine.

One section of the trail follows the park road around a broad lawn. These tiny lavender flowers were in the grass at the edge of the road.

This is a turn in the trail where it goes over a little ditch. We saw water in it for the first time today. We’ve been told that Florida had a lot of rain this summer.

This nice walk through the woods is along the highway. You can see a car driving by at the end of the path.

It was a beautiful day with temperatures in the high seventies or low eighties with a nice breeze. All three picnic pavilions had a group of picnickers in them. We saw men playing disc golf and the playground was full of children.

I noticed some poles along the trail that were not here the last time we were. There are five of them.

Like this:

Another day at the shop. As he said he would, Mechanic Kevin arrived around 0700 to take Sao into the shop for more work. We went tot he customer lounge and watched some RV news. That got old quickly and we decided to take a walk around the property. Of course, we stopped by Sao on the way out to see how Kevin was doing. The had the instrument panel pulled off the dash and was testing diodes.

I went around to get a better look. The problem that he was addressing was the “low air pressure” alarm. The warning light and beeping have been going on regularly since we left the Smokies at the end of June. A couple days it has beeped non-stop and nearly drove me mad. The boost air pressure gauge is supposed to read 60 psi, but normal has been 30 psi. The last few days of driving, the gauge had gone down to 5 and 10 psi. Kevin was also going to change the air dryer filters.

The yellow things at the top left are the two-way radios that JR Smullen gave us. Thanks again JR; we use them all the time.

Here is Sao sitting in the oil change bay. We got the lube, oil, and filter changes for the engine and the generator.

Then we headed out for our walk. I noticed (not for the first time) that many of the service bays also have a motorhome sitting outside and they are being worked on.

Here is something we have never seen before. Apparently that motorhome is having trouble with its propane gas system. There is a hose running from the propane tank to tower and they are burning off the propane from the tank. It was burning hard too. We could hear it.

This large Live Oak is next to the employee parking lot. Live oaks with Spanish Moss hanging on them are one of the great charms of the south.

We noticed that we have a new hub cap. We don’t know where we lost the old one; we have been on so many rough roads this summer, it could be anywhere. The hub cap is just the shiny clean part in the center.

Here is another large Live Oak out in front of the Alliance Coach building.

These small Morning Glories are growing along the side of the road.

Of course, I had to go take a look at the lawn-mowing tractor parked in a field. I realized that I look at tractors a lot when I recognized the Massey Furgeson symbol on the front. One of my fantasy jobs would be driving a large lawn mower.

We came around to the back of the garage to see that Sao had been moved from the oil-change bay to the wash-and-wax port. Two men were hard at work with extra-long-handled brushes and a large bucket of suds.

We stood and watched them for a while. One fellow was cleaning the wheels as they both worked their way around Sao together.

They got to the front and I realized that one of them was pressure-washing right above the other, but the other guy never got wet.

Wash job done, Sao is sparkling clean. Believe me, we had a lot of dirt we dragged in from all across the country.

One guy started wiping Sao dry while the other one came behind him waxing. We went to lunch at that point.

We spent most of the afternoon in the customer waiting room/lounge. Andy studied the Alliance Coach catalog and I continued reading Macho Metaphysics by our friend, Bob Elkins.

Kevin has already finished some jobs:

Found and repaired a leak in the rear port slide out. This is where I had musty, mildewed clothes last winter.

Found the problem and fixed the rear heat pump/air conditioning unit. Fortunately, that turned out to be a simple sensor replacement.

He fixed the entry steps, which had come loose and were sinking when we stepped on them.

He took apart the light fixtures in the bedroom and over the kitchen sink. He is going to change them to LED lights.

He checked our LP gas system for leaks. We didn’t have a problem, but Andy wants it checked. After we lost our friend Bob in a gas fire, we are a bit sensitive about it.

Kevin looked at our rear-view camera system, but can’t figure out why it doesn’t work half the time. We got a new monitor two years ago and a new camera last year. We still have the problem. I think the problem in the wire between them, but Will Burke says that would cost too much to fix.

We always have a list when we come to Alliance. My darling friend Sue Meyer asked me to include what work we are getting done. They have a motorhome too. All this probably makes her queasy. But Mac can probably fix most of this stuff himself.

Those of you who drive motor homes and those who have read my logs for the past few years will be familiar with an RV dealer and repair facility. So, for the rest of you, I took some pictures of my surroundings today. You can see an aerial view on Google Earth with this address: 4505 Monaco Way, Wildwood, FL 34785. It is a large piece of property, larger than Google shows because they now have recreational vehicles parked in a big field along the highway.

Mechanic Kevin had another motorhome to work on this morning; the parts came in. That meant I did not have to be up and dressed before 0700. I woke up anyway. Andy made crepes for breakfast. He had a flipping accident with mine, but I assured him that it was still delicious, especially after I loaded it with Nutella, raspberries, and whipped cream.

Andy discovered that AARP members get a 15% discount at Carrabba’s restaurants and there was no holding him back. He found one on line and was ready to go even before Mechanic Kevin came out to take Sao into the garage. We stopped at Walgreens to pick up a prescription and then used the GPS to find our way through The Villages to get to Carrabba’s. Then we stopped at Walgreens again on the way back to buy a card for our service adviser, Will Burke. Today was his last day at work this week; he is getting married on Saturday.

So, here is what we are seeing at Alliance Coach today. We are parked in a “campground” of sorts out behind the building. It is not like dropping your car off at the garage and getting someone else to take to home or to work. Many of the customers, like us, live in the motorhome full time or for extended periods. We stay with the motorhome. They provide parking spaces with water and an electrical outlet for those of us waiting with the coach. It is still just a parking lot with some grass between the spaces. Ha! That describes a lot of RV parks we’ve been to. This is the view out the front window.

I walked out in front of Sao and took this picture looking to our right toward the garage building.

And, here is Sao, with our little red car, parked in Space 35. It is a really nice parking lot.

Here is Sao in Mechanic Kevin’s bay in the garage.

I took a picture down the next aisle over to give you an idea how big the facility is. There are thirty-some service bays in there.

We have a lot of fun with our Service Adviser, Will Burke. Here, he has joined us in the customer waiting lounge to talk about what work has been accomplished today. I could tell that he was anxious to go home to start preparations for the wedding. He told us that his girlfriend had put a gun to his head to get married. We gave him his card, with enough money in it to buy his bride a nice dinner on their honeymoon. He gave us hugs.

Toward the end of the work day, we went back to our parking space and sat in our folding chairs on the patch of grass between our space and the neighbor’s.

There were a lot of small, thin clouds smeared overhead and I thought they would make for a nice sunset. But, I got busy and forgot to go out to look when the sun did set.

It was well past quitting time when Mechanic Kevin drove Sao back to our spot. We watched him back the motorhome in between the two cars.

Here is Kevin just after he got out of Sao and was heading to the back to plug in the electrical cord.

He is so adorable. He reminds me of my nephew Jonathan. And, he is an extremely pleasant young man.

Kevin O’Brien the mechanic showed up at Sao at 0800 with the work order. He and Andy discussed a few of the things that need fixing while I pulled in the slides. Kevin drove Sao into the garage bay and we rode along. Then he got to work and we got in the car.

It was a most excellent day. We drove down I-75 to Palm Harbor, near Tarpon Springs, to visit Cissy. You know what people say about real friends? I’ve seen it on Facebook many times. They say years can pass and when you see each other again, it’s just like old times. That’s how it was today. We just talked for hours, catching up on the interim.

Cissy has been busy the past year or so getting her new house remodeled and decorated. It is beautiful and someone should make a house magazine article about it. And, wouldn’t you know it? I forgot to take my camera with me to document it. Duh.

We went out to lunch at Bon Apetit on the gulf inland waterway and ate outside on a lovely deck. On the way back home Cissy drove us around her community showing us all the amenities (golf courses, gym, spa, tennis club, seven swimming pools, and more). It is beautiful. Andy was impressed because one of big pro golf tournaments is played there on the Copperhead course. We saw the famed snake-pit water hazard as we drove by.

Cissy has two small spoiled dogs. I was tempted to put Sophie in the car with me when Cissy wasn’t looking. And Paco? He just jumped right in when Andy opened his door. Just before we got into the car to leave, I remembered that I had my tablet and could take some pictures with that. Unfortunately, all I could see in the screen was myself and couldn’t figure out how to change it. I just aimed blindly and got this picture of Cissy and Andy at our car.

Andy was looking at Paco and not the camera. My next picture turned out completely black. I don’t know why.

Cissy took the tablet and tried to figure it out with no success. Studying the buttons, or more exactly, lack of buttons:

So she tried the blind method too and almost got it.

Then she got this one. Nice work Cissy!

Yes, it was a fun day with plenty of laughter and a happy ending. I’ll have to make sure we don’t wait as long to get together again as we did this time.